In recent years, mobile terminals such as cellular phones and digital cameras have highly-advanced functions, and an increasing number of these terminals are connectable with a network. However, as operation members of these mobile terminals are limited, it is very troublesome to input parameters such as an ID and a password for access to the network. Further, as a certain degree of knowledge of network is required for setting these parameters, users poor in network knowledge have difficulty in setting itself.
Accordingly, as a method for setting the parameters without user's input, an information code reading function may be added to a mobile terminal. A user can perform setting by reading the parameters using the information code reading function of the mobile terminal, from a display device where the parameters converted to information codes are outputted.
As a method for setting system parameters for an optical information reading apparatus, a technique of automatically setting parameters by reading a two-dimensional barcode (QR code) converted from the parameters as a type of information code is known (for example, Japanese Patent application Laid-Open No. 2003-85474).
However, when a secret parameter such as a password for connection with a network is set in a reading apparatus by the above-described method, the secret parameter can be held and set using any terminal merely by reading the code as long as the terminal has information-code reading function. This has a problem in terms of security.